Physical random access channel (PRACH) RACH occasion (RO) selection for environmental internet of things (IoT) systems with secondary nodes

Abstract

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method of wireless communication at an environmental Internet of Things (IoT) device. The environmental IoT device measures a signal strength of a downlink signal transmitted from a gNodeB (gNB). The environmental IoT device estimates a path loss between the gNB and itself based at least on the measured signal strength. Based on a path loss between the environmental IoT device and the gNB, and in combination with a measured received power from a secondary node, the environmental IoT device may select a random access channel (RACH) occasion (RO) such that the received power from the environmental IoT device at the gNB is constrained within a limited range.

Description

Cross-reference to relevant applications regarding Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) timing (RO) selection in Internet of Things (IoT) systems with auxiliary nodes.

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 18 / 483,335, filed October 9, 2023, which has been assigned to the assignee of this application and is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, as fully set forth below and for all applicable purposes. Technical Field

[0002] Various aspects of this disclosure relate to wireless communication, and more specifically, to techniques for selecting RACH timing (RO) for managing the random access channel (RACH) process in an environmental Internet of Things (IoT) system. Background Technology

[0003] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide a variety of telecommunications services, such as telephone, video, data, messaging, broadcasting, or other similar services. These wireless communication systems may employ multiple access technologies that enable communication with several users by sharing available wireless communication system resources.

[0004] Despite significant technological advancements in wireless communication systems over the years, challenges remain. For example, complex and dynamic environments can still attenuate or block signals between wireless transmitters and receivers. Therefore, there is a continuous expectation for improving the technical performance of wireless communication systems, including, for example: improving communication speed and data carrying capacity; improving the efficiency of shared communication media; reducing the power used by transmitters and receivers during communication; improving the reliability of wireless communication; avoiding redundant transmission and / or reception and related processing; improving the coverage area of ​​wireless communication; increasing the number and types of devices that can access the wireless communication system; increasing the ability of different types of devices to communicate with each other; and increasing the number and types of available wireless communication media. Therefore, there is a need for further improvements to wireless communication systems to overcome the aforementioned technical challenges and other obstacles. Summary of the Invention

[0005] One aspect provides a method for wireless communication at a first wireless node. The method includes measuring one or more signals received from a second wireless node; measuring a continuous wave (CW) received from a third wireless node; selecting a random access channel (RACH) timing (RO) based on measurements associated with the one or more signals and the CW; and transmitting RACH transmission in the selected RO.

[0006] Other aspects provide: an apparatus capable of operating to, being configured to, or otherwise adapted to perform the foregoing methods and those methods described elsewhere herein; a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of the apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the foregoing methods and those methods described elsewhere herein; a computer program product embodied on a computer-readable storage medium comprising: code for performing the foregoing methods and those methods described elsewhere herein; and an apparatus comprising components for performing the foregoing methods and those methods described elsewhere herein. By way of example, an apparatus may include a processing system, a device having a processing system, or a processing system cooperating via one or more networks.

[0007] For illustrative purposes, the following description and figures illustrate certain features. Attached Figure Description

[0008] The accompanying drawings depict certain features of the various aspects described herein and should not be considered as limiting the scope of this disclosure.

[0009] Figure 1 depicts an example wireless communication network.

[0010] Figure 2 illustrates an example decomposed base station (BS) architecture.

[0011] Figure 3 illustrates various aspects of the example BS and example user equipment (UE).

[0012] Figures 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D depict various example aspects of data structures used in wireless communication networks.

[0013] Figure 5 depicts a radio frequency identification (RFID) system.

[0014] Figure 6 depicts an example diagram of Internet of Things (IoT) devices in an exemplary environment.

[0015] Figure 7 depicts an example diagram of the first topology of an exemplary IoT system in an illustrative environment.

[0016] Figure 8 depicts an example diagram of a second topology of an exemplary IoT system in an illustrative environment.

[0017] Figure 9 illustrates an example diagram of a third topology for an IoT system with downlink assistance.

[0018] Figure 10 illustrates an example diagram of a third topology for an IoT system with uplink assistance.

[0019] Figure 11 illustrates example random access channel (RACH) timings (RO) in different time slots.

[0020] Figure 12 depicts a first call flowchart illustrating example communication between different devices and nodes in an IoT system with an auxiliary node for downlink operation, for managing the selection of one or more ROs in the RACH process.

[0021] Figure 13 depicts a second call flowchart that illustrates example communication between different devices and nodes in an IoT system with an auxiliary node for uplink operation, for managing the selection of one or more ROs for the RACH process.

[0022] Figure 14 illustrates a wireless communication method for selecting one or more ROs at a first wireless node to manage the RACH process in an environmental IoT system.

[0023] Figure 15 depicts an example communication device. Detailed Implementation

[0024] This disclosure provides apparatus, methods, processing systems, and computer-readable media for selecting one or more Random Access Channel (RACH) timings (RO) for managing the RACH process in an environmental Internet of Things (IoT) system.

[0025] Environmental IoT devices (or tags) refer to smaller and cheaper devices compared to previous generations of IoT devices, such as narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) and reduced-capacity (RedCap) devices. Environmental IoT devices can be powered by radio waves. Due to their size and ability to operate with little or no power, environmental IoT devices can be widely applicable in tracking, monitoring, and managing a variety of devices and processes. Environmental IoT systems may include gNodeBs (gNBs) to communicate with different environmental IoT devices.

[0026] RACH stands for Random Access Channel. It is an important component of wireless systems, including 5G New Radio (NR). The RACH procedure plays a role in establishing the initial connection between the User Equipment (UE) and the gNB. The UE (e.g., an ambient IoT device) can initiate the RACH procedure after receiving the Downlink Synchronization Block (SSB) signal from the gNB. In some cases, there may be a one-to-one correspondence between the received SSB and the RO (e.g., which can be used by the ambient IoT device for RACH transmission).

[0027] In some environmental IoT systems, multiple environmental IoT devices may exist within a cell. In such systems, more than one environmental IoT device may select the same RO for physical RACH (PRACH) transmission (e.g., when multiple environmental IoT devices located at similar or different distances from the gNB may receive the same SSB from the gNB). In such cases, to achieve satisfactory initial access performance for all environmental IoT devices that have selected the same RO, it is desirable to have the same received power from the environmental IoT devices.

[0028] Environmental IoT devices may lack power control capabilities. Therefore, when multiple environmental IoT devices may use the same RO for PRACH transmission, the received power of PRACH transmissions from different environmental IoT devices may vary significantly. For example, an environmental IoT device located at the cell edge may fail during the RACH process, which could result in excessive latency and higher energy consumption in order to successfully complete the RACH process.

[0029] Since environmental IoT devices may not have power control capabilities, one solution is to provide more than one RO (e.g., an RO pool with multiple ROs) corresponding to one SSB. For example, by providing more than one RO for an SSB, it may be possible to have similar received signal power at the reader (e.g., it can receive transmissions from environmental IoT devices using an RO pool).

[0030] The techniques described herein can assist environmental IoT devices in selecting an RO from an RO pool within an environmental IoT system (e.g., with auxiliary nodes for downlink or uplink operation), thereby constraining the received power of signals from the environmental IoT device to a limited range.

[0031] For example, an environmental IoT device can measure the signal strength of a downlink signal from a gNB. Based on the signal strength measurement, the environmental IoT device can estimate the path loss between the gNB and the environmental IoT device. Based on the estimated path loss and other measurements (such as the received power of the signal from the auxiliary node), the environmental IoT device can select a Route of Paths (RO) (e.g., with a shorter or longer sequence) such that the received power of the signal transmitted from the environmental IoT device at the selected RO is constrained within a limited range at the gNB.

[0032] For example, an environmental IoT device can measure the signal strength of a probe signal from an auxiliary node. Based on the signal strength measurement, the environmental IoT device can estimate the path loss between the auxiliary node and the environmental IoT device. Based on the estimated path loss and other measurements (such as the received power of the signal from the gNB), the environmental IoT device can select a Route of Roots (RO) such that the received power of the signal transmitted from the environmental IoT device at the selected RO is constrained within a limited range at the auxiliary node.

[0033] An introduction to wireless communication networks

[0034] The techniques and methods described herein can be used in a variety of wireless communication networks. While aspects may be described herein using terms commonly associated with 3G, 4G, and / or 5G wireless technologies, aspects of this disclosure are equally applicable to other communication systems and standards not explicitly mentioned herein.

[0035] Figure 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communication network 100 in which the aspects described herein can be implemented.

[0036] Generally, wireless communication network 100 includes various network entities (optionally, network elements or network nodes). Network entities are typically communication devices and / or communication functions performed by communication devices (e.g., user equipment (UE), base station (BS), components of the BS, servers, etc.). For example, various functions of the network and various devices associated with and interacting with the network can be considered network entities. Furthermore, wireless communication network 100 includes terrestrial and non-terrestrial aspects. The terrestrial aspect includes ground-based network entities (e.g., BS 102), and the non-terrestrial aspect includes satellite 140 and aircraft 145, which may include onboard network entities (e.g., one or more BSs) capable of communicating with other network elements (e.g., terrestrial BSs) and UEs.

[0037] In the depicted example, wireless communication network 100 includes BS 102, UE 104 and one or more core networks (such as Evolved Packet Core (EPC) 160 and 5G Core (5GC) network 190) that interoperate to provide communication services over various communication links, including wired and wireless links.

[0038] Figure 1 illustrates various example UEs 104, which may more generally include: cellular phones, smartphones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs), satellite radios, GPS devices, multimedia devices, video devices, digital audio players, cameras, game consoles, tablet computers, smart devices, wearable devices, vehicles, electricity meters, air pumps, large or small kitchen appliances, healthcare devices, implants, sensors / actuators, displays, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, always-on (AON) devices, edge processing devices, or other similar devices. UE 104 may also be more generally referred to as mobile devices, wireless devices, wireless communication devices, stations, mobile stations, subscriber stations, mobile subscriber stations, mobile units, subscriber units, wireless units, remote units, remote devices, access terminals, mobile terminals, wireless terminals, remote terminals, mobile phones, and others.

[0039] BS 102 communicates wirelessly with UE 104 via communication link 120 (e.g., sending or receiving signals to or from UE 104). Communication link 120 between BS 102 and UE 104 may include uplink (UL) transmission (also referred to as reverse link) from UE 104 to BS 102 and / or downlink (DL) transmission (also referred to as forward link) transmission from BS 102 to UE 104. In various aspects, communication link 120 may utilize multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technologies, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity.

[0040] BS 102 may typically include: NodeB, enhanced NodeB (eNB), next-generation enhanced NodeB (ng-eNB), next-generation NodeB (gNB or gNodeB), access point, transceiver base station, radio BS, radio transceiver, transceiver functionality, transmit / receive point, and / or others. Each BS in BS 102 may provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110, which may sometimes be referred to as a cell, and in some cases may overlap (e.g., a small cell 102' may have a coverage area 110' that overlaps with the coverage area 110 of a macro cell). For example, a BS may provide communication coverage for macro cells (covering a relatively large geographic area), pico cells (covering a relatively small geographic area, such as a stadium), femtocells (covering a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home)), and / or other types of cells.

[0041] Although BS 102 is described as a single communication device in various aspects, it can be implemented in various configurations. For example, one or more components of BS 102 can be decomposed, including a central unit (CU), one or more distributed units (Du), one or more radio units (Ru), a near real-time (near RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC), or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC, to name a few. Also, various aspects of BS 102 can be virtualized. More generally, a BS (e.g., BS 102) can include components located in a single physical location or components located in various physical locations. In the example where BS 102 includes components located in various physical locations, each component can perform its own function, such that the various components together achieve functionality similar to BS 102 located in a single physical location. In some aspects, a BS 102 including components located in various physical locations can be referred to as a decomposed radio access network (RAN) architecture, such as an open RAN (O-RAN) or virtualized RAN (VRAN) architecture. Figure 2 depicts and illustrates an example decomposed BS architecture.

[0042] Different BSs 102 within the wireless communication network 100 can also be configured to support different radio access technologies (such as 3G, 4G, and / or 5G). For example, a BS 102 configured for 4G LTE (collectively referred to as Evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN)) can interface with EPC 160 via a first backhaul link 132 (e.g., S1 interface). A BS 102 configured for 5G (e.g., 5G NR or Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN)) can interface with 5GC 190 via a second backhaul link 184. BSs 102 can communicate directly or indirectly (e.g., via EPC 160 or 5GC 190) on a third backhaul link 134 (e.g., X2 interface), which can be wired or wireless.

[0043] Wireless communication network 100 can subdivide the electromagnetic spectrum into various categories, bands, channels, or other characteristics. In some aspects, subdivision is provided based on wavelength and frequency, where frequency may also be referred to as carrier, subcarrier, channel, tone, or subband. For example, 3GPP currently defines frequency range 1 (FR1) as including 600MHz to 6GHz, which is often (interchangeably) referred to as “below 6GHz”. Similarly, 3GPP currently defines frequency range 2 (FR2) as including 26GHz-41GHz, which is sometimes (interchangeably) referred to as “millimeter wave” (“mmW” or “mmWave”). A BS configured to communicate using mmWave / near mmWave radio bands (e.g., mmWave BS, such as BS 180) can utilize beamforming (e.g., 182) with a UE (e.g., 104) to improve path loss and range.

[0044] The communication link 120 between BS 102 and, for example, UE 104 can be via one or more carriers, which may have different bandwidths (e.g., 5MHz, 10MHz, 15MHz, 20MHz, 100MHz, 400MHz and / or other MHz) and may be aggregated in various ways. The carriers may be adjacent to each other or may not be adjacent to each other. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to DL compared to UL).

[0045] Communication using higher frequency bands may have higher path loss and shorter range compared to lower frequency communication. Therefore, some BSs (e.g., 180 in Figure 1) may utilize beamforming 182 with UE 104 to improve path loss and range. For example, BS 180 and UE 104 may each include multiple antennas, such as antenna elements, antenna panels, and / or antenna arrays, to facilitate beamforming. In some cases, BS 180 may transmit beamformed signals to UE 104 in one or more transmit directions 182'. UE 104 may receive beamformed signals from BS 180 in one or more receive directions 182''. UE 104 may also transmit beamformed signals to BS 180 in one or more transmit directions 182''. BS 180 may also receive beamformed signals from UE 104 in one or more receive directions 182''. Then, BS 180 and UE 104 can perform beamforming to determine the optimal receive and transmit directions for each. It is worth noting that the transmit and receive directions of BS 180 may be the same or different. Similarly, the transmit and receive directions of UE 104 may be the same or different.

[0046] The wireless communication network 100 further includes a Wi-Fi AP 150 that communicates with a Wi-Fi station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in, for example, unlicensed spectrum in 2.4 GHz and / or 5 GHz.

[0047] Some UEs 104 may use device-to-device (D2D) communication link 158 to communicate with each other. The D2D communication link 158 may use one or more sidelink channels, such as physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), and / or physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH).

[0048] EPC 160 may include various functional components, including: Mobility Management Entity (MME) 162, other MMEs 164, Serving Gateway 166, Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) Gateway 168, Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BM-SC) 170, and / or Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway 172, as in the illustrated example. MME 162 may communicate with Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 174. MME 162 is the control node that handles signaling between UE 104 and EPC 160. Generally, MME 162 provides bearer and connectivity management.

[0049] Generally, user Internet Protocol (IP) packets are transmitted through Serving Gateway 166, which is itself connected to PDN Gateway 172. PDN Gateway 172 provides UE IP address allocation and other functions. PDN Gateway 172 and BM-SC 170 are connected to IP services 176, which may include, for example, the Internet, intranets, IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), packet-switched (PS) streaming services, and / or other IP services.

[0050] The BM-SC 170 provides functionality for MBMS user service dispatch and delivery. The BM-SC 170 can serve as an entry point for content provider MBMS transmissions, authorize and initiate MBMS bearer services within a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), and / or schedule MBMS transmissions. The MBMS Gateway 168 can distribute MBMS services to BS 102 within a Broadcast-Specific Service Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) area, and / or be responsible for session management (start / stop) and collecting eMBMS-related billing information.

[0051] 5GC 190 may include various functional components, including: Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 192, other AMFs 193, Session Management Function (SMF) 194, and User Plane Function (UPF) 195. AMF 192 may communicate with Unified Data Management (UDM) 196.

[0052] AMF 192 is the control node that handles signaling between UE 104 and 5GC 190. AMF 192 provides services such as Quality of Service (QoS) flow and session management.

[0053] Internet Protocol (IP) packets are transmitted via UPF 195, which connects to IP service 197 and provides UE IP address allocation and other functions for 5GC 190. IP service 197 may include, for example, the Internet, intranet, IMS, PS streaming service, and / or other IP services.

[0054] The wireless communication network 100 also includes a random access channel (RACH) component 198, which can be configured to perform the method 1400 of FIG14. The wireless communication network 100 also includes a RACH component 199, which can be configured to perform the method 1400 of FIG14.

[0055] In various aspects, to give a few examples, network entities or network nodes can be implemented as aggregated BS, decomposed BS, components of BS, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) nodes, trunk nodes, and sidelink nodes.

[0056] Figure 2 illustrates an example decomposed BS 200 architecture. The decomposed BS 200 architecture may include one or more central units (Cu) 210, which may communicate directly with the core network 220 via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 220 through one or more decomposed BS units, such as a near real-time (near-RT) RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) 225 via an E2 link, or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC 215 associated with a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) framework 205, or both. CU 210 may communicate with one or more distributed units (Du) 230 via corresponding midhaul links (such as F1 interfaces). Du 230 may communicate with one or more radio units (RU) 240 via corresponding fronthaul links. RU 240 may communicate with the corresponding UE 104 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, UE 104 may be served simultaneously by multiple RU 240s.

[0057] Each unit in a cell (e.g., CU 210, DU 230, RU 240, and near-RT RIC 225, non-RT RIC 215, and SMO frame 205) may include or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the cells, or an associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the cell's communication interface, may be configured to communicate with one or more other cells via the transmission medium. For example, these cells may include a wired interface configured to receive signals or transmit signals to one or more other cells via a wired transmission medium. Additionally or alternatively, a cell may include a wireless interface that may include a receiver, transmitter, or transceiver (such as a radio frequency (RF) transceiver) configured to receive signals on a wireless transmission medium or transmit signals to one or more other cells, or both.

[0058] In some aspects, CU 210 can host one or more higher-level control functions. Such control functions may include Radio Resource Control (RRC), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), Serving Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), etc. Each control function can be implemented using an interface configured to signal to other control functions hosted by CU 210. CU 210 can be configured to handle user plane functions (e.g., Central Unit-User Plane (CU-UP)), control plane functions (e.g., Central Unit-Control Plane (CU-CP)), or combinations thereof. In some implementations, CU 210 can be logically divided into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. When implemented in an O-RAN configuration, CU-UP units can communicate bidirectionally with CU-CP units via an interface such as an E1 interface. CU 210 can be implemented to communicate with DU 230 for network control and signaling, as needed.

[0059] DU 230 may correspond to a logic unit that includes one or more BS functions for controlling the operation of one or more RU 240s. In some aspects, DU 230 may at least partially host one or more of the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and one or more high physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, etc.) according to functional splits (such as those defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In some aspects, DU 230 may also host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented using an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by DU 230 or with control functions hosted by CU 210.

[0060] Lower-layer functionality can be implemented by one or more RU 240s. In some deployments, the RU240 controlled by the DU 230 may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functions or low-PHY layer functions (such as performing Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, or Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, or both, at least in part based on functional decomposition (such as lower-layer functional decomposition). In such architectures, the RU 240 may be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communications with one or more UE 104s. In some specific implementations, the real-time and non-real-time aspects of control plane and user plane communications with the RU 240 may be controlled by the corresponding DU 230. In some scenarios, this configuration allows the DU 230 and CU 210 to be implemented in cloud-based RAN architectures such as vRAN architectures.

[0061] SMO framework 205 can be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of both non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, SMO framework 205 can be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, which can be managed via operation and maintenance interfaces such as the O1 interface. For virtualized network elements, SMO framework 205 can be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform such as Open Cloud (O-Cloud) 290 to perform network element lifecycle management (such as instantiating virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface such as the O2 interface. Such virtualized network elements may include, but are not limited to, CU 210, DU 230, RU 240, and near-RT RIC 225. In some implementations, SMO framework 205 can communicate with hardware aspects of the 4G RAN such as Open eNB (O-eNB) 211 via the O1 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, SMO framework 205 can communicate directly with one or more RU 240s via the O1 interface. SMO framework 205 may also include a non-RT RIC 215 configured to support the functionality of SMO framework 205.

[0062] The non-RT RIC 215 can be configured to include logical functions that enable non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, including artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows for model training and updates, or policy-based guidance for applications / features in the near-RT RIC 225. The non-RT RIC 215 can be coupled to or communicate with the near-RT RIC 225, such as via an A1 interface. The near-RT RIC 225 can be configured to include logical functions that enable near real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via an interface, such as via an E2 interface, through data collection and actions, connecting one or more CU 210s, one or more DU 230s, or both, and O-eNBs to the near-RT RIC 225.

[0063] In some implementations, to generate AI / ML models to be deployed in the near-RT RIC 225, the non-RT RIC 215 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server. This information can be utilized by the near-RT RIC 225 and may be received from non-network data sources or network functions at the SMO framework 205 or the non-RT RIC 215. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 215 or the near-RT RIC 225 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 215 may monitor long-term trends and patterns in performance and employ AI / ML models to perform corrective actions via the SMO framework 205 (such as reconfiguration via O1) or by creating RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

[0064] Figure 3 illustrates various aspects of examples BS 102 and UE 104.

[0065] Generally, BS 102 includes various processors (e.g., 320, 330, 338, and 340), antennas 334a to 334t (collectively referred to as 334), transceivers 332a to 332t (collectively referred to as 332) including modulators and demodulators, and other aspects that enable the wireless transmission of data (e.g., data source 312) and the wireless reception of data (e.g., data sink 339). For example, BS 102 can transmit and receive data between BS 102 and UE 104. BS 102 includes a controller / processor 340 that can be configured to implement the various functions described herein related to wireless communication.

[0066] BS 102 includes a controller / processor 340 that can be configured to implement various functions related to wireless communication. In the depicted example, the controller / processor 340 includes a RACH component 341, which may represent the RACH component 199 of FIG. 1. It is worth noting that although depicted as one aspect of the controller / processor 340, in other specific implementations, the RACH component 341 may be additionally or alternatively implemented in various other aspects of BS 102.

[0067] Generally, UE 104 includes various processors (e.g., 358, 364, 366, and 380), antennas 352a to 352r (collectively referred to as 352), transceivers 354a to 354r (collectively referred to as 354) including modulators and demodulators, and other aspects that enable the wireless transmission of data (e.g., retrieval from data source 362) and the wireless reception of data (e.g., provision to data sink 360). UE 104 includes a controller / processor 380 that can be configured to implement the various wireless communication-related functions described herein.

[0068] UE 104 includes a controller / processor 380 that can be configured to implement various functions related to wireless communication. In the depicted example, controller / processor 380 includes a RACH component 381, which may represent the STC component 198 of FIG. 1. It is worth noting that although depicted as one aspect of controller / processor 380, in other specific implementations, RACH component 381 may be additionally or alternatively implemented in various other aspects of UE 104.

[0069] Regarding example downlink transmission, BS 102 includes a transmission processor 320 that can receive data from data source 312 and control information from controller / processor 340. The control information may be for a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), Physical HARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH), Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), Group Shared PDCCH (GC PDCCH), and / or others. In some examples, this data may be for a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

[0070] The transmitter processor 320 can process data and control information (e.g., encoding and symbol mapping) to obtain data symbols and control symbols, respectively. The transmitter processor 320 can also generate reference symbols (such as those for the primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), PBCH demodulation reference signal (DMRS), and channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS)).

[0071] The transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 330 can perform spatial processing (e.g., pre-decoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, and / or reference symbols where applicable, and can provide the output symbol stream to the modulators (MODs) in transceivers 332a to 332t. Each modulator in transceivers 332a to 332t can process the corresponding output symbol stream to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator can further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and up-convert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. The downlink signal from the modulators in transceivers 332a to 332t can be transmitted via antennas 334a to 334t, respectively.

[0072] To receive downlink transmissions, UE 104 includes antennas 352a to 352r that receive downlink signals from BS 102 and provide the received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) in transceivers 354a to 354r, respectively. Each demodulator in transceivers 354a to 354r can adjust (e.g., filter, amplify, down-convert, and digitize) the corresponding received signal to obtain an input sample. Each demodulator can further process the input sample to obtain the received symbols.

[0073] The MIMO detector 356 can acquire received symbols from all demodulators in transceivers 354a to 354r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols where applicable, and provide the detected symbols. The receive processor 358 can process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide the decoded data of UE 104 to data sink 360, and provide the decoded control information to controller / processor 380.

[0074] Regarding the example uplink transmission, UE 104 further includes a transmission processor 364 that receives and processes data from data source 362 (e.g., for PUSCH) and control information from controller / processor 380 (e.g., for Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)). Transmission processor 364 can also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., for SRS). Symbols from transmission processor 364 may be pre-decoded by TX MIMO processor 366, where applicable, further processed by modulators in transceivers 354a to 354r (e.g., for SC-FDM), and transmitted to BS 102.

[0075] At BS 102, uplink signals from UE 104 can be received by antennas 334a to 334t, processed by demodulators in transceivers 332a to 332t, detected by MIMO detector 336 where applicable, and further processed by receiver processor 338 to obtain decoded data and control information transmitted by UE 104. Receiver processor 338 can provide the decoded data to data sink 339 and the decoded control information to controller / processor 340.

[0076] Memory 342 and memory 382 can store data and program code for BS 102 and UE 104, respectively.

[0077] Scheduler 344 can schedule UE 104 to transmit data on the downlink and / or uplink.

[0078] In various respects, BS 102 can be described as transmitting and receiving various types of data associated with the methods described herein. In these contexts, “transmitting” can refer to various mechanisms that output data, such as from data source 312, scheduler 344, memory 342, transmit processor 320, controller / processor 340, TX MIMO processor 330, transceivers 332a to 332t, antennas 334a to 334t, and / or other aspects described herein. Similarly, “receiving” can refer to various mechanisms that acquire data, such as from antennas 334a to 334t, transceivers 332a to 332t, RX MIMO detector 336, controller / processor 340, receive processor 338, scheduler 344, memory 342, and / or other aspects described herein.

[0079] In various respects, UE 104 can also be described as transmitting and receiving various types of data associated with the methods described herein. In these contexts, “transmitting” can refer to various mechanisms that output data, such as from data source 362, memory 382, ​​transmit processor 364, controller / processor 380, TX MIMO processor 366, transceivers 354a to 354t, antennas 352a to 352t, and / or other aspects described herein. Similarly, “receiving” can refer to various mechanisms that acquire data, such as from antennas 352a to 352t, transceivers 354a to 354t, RX MIMO detector 356, controller / processor 380, receive processor 358, memory 382, ​​and / or other aspects described herein.

[0080] In some respects, the processor can be configured to perform various operations (such as those associated with the methods described herein) and to send (output) data to or receive data from another interface configured to send or receive data, respectively.

[0081] Figures 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D depict various aspects of the data structure used in wireless communication networks (such as wireless communication network 100 in Figure 1).

[0082] Specifically, Figure 4A is a diagram 400 illustrating an example of a first subframe within a 5G (e.g., 5G NR) frame structure, Figure 4B is a diagram 430 illustrating an example of a DL channel within a 5G subframe, Figure 4C is a diagram 450 illustrating an example of a second subframe within a 5G frame structure, and Figure 4D is a diagram 480 illustrating an example of a UL channel within a 5G subframe.

[0083] Wireless communication systems can utilize orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP) on both the uplink and downlink. Such systems can also support half-duplex operation using time division duplex (TDD). OFDM and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) divide the system bandwidth (e.g., as depicted in Figures 4B and 4D) into multiple orthogonal subcarriers. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Modulation symbols can be transmitted in the frequency domain using OFDM and / or in the time domain using SC-FDM.

[0084] The wireless communication frame structure can be Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), where, for a specific set of subcarriers, subframes within that set are dedicated to either DL (Deep Length) or UL (Ultra-Length). The wireless communication frame structure can also be TDD, where, for a specific set of subcarriers, subframes within that set are dedicated to both DL and UL.

[0085] In Figures 4A and 4C, the wireless communication frame structure is TDD, where D is DL, U is UL, and X can be flexibly used between DL and UL. UE 104 can configure a time slot format via the received Slot Format Indicator (SFI) (dynamically configured via DL Control Information (DCI) or semi-statically / statically configured via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling). In the depicted example, a 10ms frame is divided into 10 equal-sized 1ms subframes. Each subframe may include one or more time slots. In some examples, each time slot may include 7 or 14 symbols, depending on the time slot format. Subframes may also include micro-slots, which typically have fewer symbols than the entire time slot. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0086] In some respects, the number of time slots within a subframe is based on the time slot configuration and parameter set. For example, for time slot configuration 0, different parameter sets (μ) 0 to 5 allow for 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 time slots per subframe, respectively. For time slot configuration 1, different parameter sets 0 to 2 allow for 2, 4, and 8 time slots per subframe, respectively. Therefore, for time slot configuration 0 and parameter set μ, there are 14 symbols per time slot and 2µ time slots per subframe. The subcarrier spacing and symbol length / duration are functions of the parameter set. The subcarrier spacing can be equal to... kHz, where μ is the parameter set from 0 to 5. Therefore, the parameter set... It has a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz and a parameter set The subcarrier spacing is 480 kHz. The symbol length / duration is negatively correlated with the subcarrier spacing. Figures 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D provide slot configuration 0 with 14 symbols per slot and parameter sets with 4 slots per subframe. Example: The time slot duration is 0.25 ms, the subcarrier spacing is 60 kHz, and the symbol duration is approximately 16.67 μs.

[0087] As depicted in Figures 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D, a resource grid can be used to represent the frame structure. Each time slot includes a resource block (RB) (also called a physical RB (PRB)) extending, for example, 12 consecutive subcarriers. The resource grid is divided into multiple resource elements (REs). The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0088] As illustrated in Figure 4A, some REs carry reference (pilot) signals (RS) for the UE (e.g., UE 104 in Figures 1 and 3). The RS may include a demodulation RS (DMRS) and / or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) for channel estimation at the UE. The RS may also include a beam measurement RS (BRS), a beam refinement RS (BRRS), and / or a phase tracking RS (PT-RS).

[0089] Figure 4B illustrates examples of various DL channels within a subframe of a frame. The Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) carries the DCI within one or more Control Channel Elements (CCEs), each CCE comprising, for example, nine RE groups (REGs), each REG comprising, for example, four consecutive REs in an OFDM symbol.

[0090] The primary synchronization signal (PSS) is located within symbol 2 of a specific subframe of the frame. The PSS is used by the UE (e.g., 104 in Figures 1 and 3) to determine subframe / symbol timing and physical layer identification.

[0091] The secondary synchronization signal (SSS) can be located in symbol 4 of a specific subframe of the frame. The SSS is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identifier group number and radio frame timing.

[0092] Based on the Physical Layer Identifier and Physical Layer Cell Identifier Group Number, the UE can determine the Physical Cell Identifier (PCI). Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the aforementioned DMRS. The Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), carrying the Master Information Block (MIB), can be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form a Synchronization Signal (SS) / PBCH block. The MIB provides the System Frame Number (SFN) and the number of Restricted Frames (RBs) in the system bandwidth. The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information (such as System Information Blocks (SIBs)) not transmitted via the PBCH, and / or paging messages.

[0093] As illustrated in Figure 4C, some REs in the REs carry DMRS for channel estimation at the BS (indicated as R for a specific configuration, but other DMRS configurations are possible). The UE can transmit DMRS for PUCCH and DMRS for PUSCH. PUSCH DMRS can be transmitted, for example, in the first or second symbol before the PUSCH. PUCCH DMRS can be transmitted in different configurations depending on whether a short or long PUCCH is being transmitted and depending on the specific PUCCH format used. UE104 can transmit a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). SRS can be transmitted, for example, in the last symbol of a subframe. SRS can have a comb structure, and the UE can transmit SRS on one of the comb teeth. SRS can be used by the BS for channel quality estimation to enable frequency-dependent scheduling at the UL.

[0094] Figure 4D illustrates examples of various UL channels within a subframe of a frame. The PUCCH can be located as indicated in one configuration. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as scheduling requests, channel quality indicators (CQI), pre-decoding matrix indicators (PMI), rank indicators (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. The PUSCH carries data and may additionally be used to carry buffer status reports (BSR), power clearance reports (PHR), and / or UCI.

[0095] An introduction to mmWave wireless communication

[0096] In wireless communication, the electromagnetic spectrum is typically subdivided into various categories, bands, channels, or other characteristics. Subdivisions are usually provided based on wavelength and frequency, where frequency can also be referred to as carrier, subcarrier, channel, tone, or subband.

[0097] Fifth-generation (5G) networks can utilize several frequency ranges, which in some cases are defined by standards such as the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards. For example, although the 3GPP technical standard TS 38.101 currently defines Frequency Range 1 (FR1) as including 600MHz-6GHz, specific uplink and downlink allocations may fall outside this general range. Therefore, FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as the "sub-6GHz" band.

[0098] Similarly, although TS 38.101 currently defines Frequency Range 2 (FR2) as including 26 GHz–41 GHz, specific uplink and downlink allocations may fall outside this general range. FR2 is sometimes referred to (interchangeably) as the “millimeter wave” (“mmW” or “mmWave”) band, although it differs from the Extremely High Frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz–300 GHz) designated as “millimeter wave” by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) because wavelengths at these frequencies are between 1 mm and 10 mm.

[0099] Compared to lower frequency communications, communications using mmWave / near-mmWave radio bands (e.g., 3 GHz–300 GHz) may have higher path loss and shorter range. As described above with respect to Figure 1, a base station (BS) (e.g., 180) configured to communicate using mmWave / near-mmWave radio bands can utilize beamforming (e.g., 182) with user equipment (UE) (e.g., 104) to improve path loss and range.

[0100] Overview of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Systems

[0101] Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a rapidly evolving technology that is impacting numerous industries due to its economic potential for inventory / asset management in warehouses, the Internet of Things (IoT), sustainable sensor networks in factories and / or agriculture, and smart homes (to name just a few examples). RFID technology consists of RFID devices (or backscattering devices) that transmit information-carrying signals upon receiving an excitation signal; these devices can be categorized as transponders or tags.

[0102] RFID devices can operate without batteries. Generally, RFID devices that operate without batteries are called passive RFID devices. Passive RFID devices operate by harvesting energy from received radio frequency signals (e.g., "air"), thus powering the receiving and transmitting circuitry within the RFID device. This harvested energy allows the passive RFID device to transmit information, sometimes called backscattered modulated information, without requiring a local power source within the RFID device. On the other hand, in some respects, RFID devices can be semi-passive and include onboard energy storage devices to supplement their ability to harvest energy from received signals (however, at a higher cost).

[0103] In some cases, in addition to harvesting power from RF sources, energy harvesting devices can also accumulate energy from other direct energy sources, such as solar energy, to supplement their power needs. In some cases, semi-passive energy harvesting devices may include power-consuming RF components, such as analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), mixers, and oscillators.

[0104] RFID devices can be a type of user equipment (UE) that provides a low-cost, low-power solution for many applications in wireless communication systems. RFID devices can be highly efficient, sometimes requiring less than 0.1mW of power to operate. Furthermore, their relatively simple architecture and, in some cases, the lack of a battery, mean that RFID devices can be small, lightweight, and easy to install or integrate into many types of environments or host devices. RFID devices provide a practical and necessary solution for many networking applications that require low-cost, small-footprint, durable, maintenance-free, and long-life communication equipment. For example, RFID devices can be configured as long-endurance industrial sensors, alleviating the problem of replacing batteries in and around hazardous machinery.

[0105] Figure 5 illustrates an RFID system 500. As shown, the RFID system 500 includes a reader 510 and an RFID tag 550. The reader 510 may also be referred to as an interrogator or scanner. The RFID tag 550 may also be referred to as an interrogator, RFID tag, or electronic tag. In some respects, the reader 510 is a network entity (e.g., such as a gNB), and the RFID tag 550 is a user equipment (UE).

[0106] The reader 510 includes an antenna 520 and an electronic unit 530. The antenna 520 radiates signals transmitted by the reader 510 and receives signals from RFID tags and / or other devices. The electronic unit 530 may include a transmitter and a receiver for reading RFID tags, such as RFID tag 550. The same pair of transmitters and receivers (or another pair of transmitters and receivers) may support bidirectional communication with wireless networks, wireless devices, etc. The electronic unit 530 may include processing circuitry (e.g., a processor) to perform processing on the data transmitted and received by the RFID reader 510.

[0107] The RFID tag 550 includes an antenna 560 and a data storage element 570. The antenna 560 radiates signals transmitted by the RFID tag 550 and receives signals from an RFID reader 510 and / or other devices. The data storage element 570 stores information of the RFID tag 550 in, for example, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) or another type of memory. The RFID tag 550 may also include an electronic unit that processes the received signals and generates signals to be transmitted.

[0108] RFID tag 550 may be a passive RFID tag without a battery. In this case, induction can be used to power RFID tag 550. For example, in some cases, the magnetic field of a signal transmitted from reader 510 can induce a current in RFID tag 550, which can then operate based on the induced current. RFID tag 550 may radiate its signal in response to receiving a signal from RFID reader 510 or some other device. In some other aspects, RFID tag 550 may optionally include an energy storage device 590, such as a battery, capacitor, etc., for storing energy harvested using energy harvesting circuitry 555, as described below.

[0109] The RFID tag 550 can be read by placing the reader 510 near it. The reader 510 can radiate a first signal 525 via antenna 520. In some cases, the first signal 525 may be referred to as an interrogation signal or an energy signal. In some cases, the energy of the first signal 525 can be coupled from the reader antenna 520 to the RFID tag antenna 560 via magnetic coupling and / or other phenomena. In other words, the RFID tag 550 can receive the first signal 525 from the reader 510 via antenna 560, and the energy of the first signal 525 can be harvested using energy harvesting circuitry 555 (e.g., an RF transducer) and used to power the RFID tag 550. For example, the energy of the first signal 525 received by the RFID tag 550 can be used to power the microprocessor 545 of the RFID tag 550. The microprocessor 545 can then retrieve information stored in the data storage element 570 of the RFID tag 550 and transmit the retrieved information via a second signal 535 using antenna 560. For example, in some cases, the microprocessor 545 can generate a second signal 535 by modulating a baseband signal (e.g., using the energy generated by the first signal 525) with information retrieved from the data storage element 570. In some cases, this second signal 535 may be referred to as a backscatter modulated information signal. Subsequently, as mentioned, the microprocessor 545 transmits the second signal 535 to the reader 510. The reader 510 may receive the second signal 535 from the RFID tag 550 via the antenna 520 and may process (e.g., demodulate) the received signal to obtain the information of the data storage element 570 transmitted in the second signal 535.

[0110] The RFID system 500 may be designed to operate at 13.56 MHz or some other frequency (e.g., the 900 MHz ultra-high frequency (UHF) band). The reader 510 may have a specified maximum transmit power level, which may be imposed by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or other regulatory agencies in other countries. The specified maximum transmit power level of the reader 510 may limit the distance at which the RFID tag 550 can be read by the reader 510.

[0111] Wireless technologies are becoming increasingly useful in industrial applications such as ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) and machine-type communication (MTC). In these and other areas, there is a desire to support devices (e.g., passive RFID tags) that can harvest energy (such as RF signals, heat, solar energy, etc.) from wireless power sources (e.g., in place of batteries or other energy storage devices such as capacitors, or in combination with batteries or other energy storage devices such as capacitors).

[0112] An overview of the backscatter communication process

[0113] Wireless technologies are becoming increasingly useful in industrial applications such as ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) and machine-type communication (MTC). In these and other areas, there is a desire to support devices (e.g., passive radio frequency identification (RFID) tags) that can harvest energy (such as radio frequency (RF) signals, thermal energy, solar energy, etc.) from wireless energy sources (e.g., replacing batteries or other energy storage devices such as capacitors, or in combination with batteries or other energy storage devices such as capacitors).

[0114] For example, in some cases, these devices may not include local power storage components and may instead harvest energy from objects such as RF signals, heat, or solar energy. In some cases, these devices may be referred to as passive Internet of Things (PIoT) devices or more generally as zero-power Internet of Things (ZP-IoT) devices. ZP-IoT devices may employ RFID-type technology and therefore may not include a local power source. Instead, ZP-IoT devices can harvest energy from radio signals emitted by reader devices such as network entities or user equipment (UEs) to perform data collection, transmission, and distributed computing.

[0115] ZP-IoT devices can have various use cases. For example, one ZP-IoT use case includes industrial sensors, where replacing the battery of a communication device can be very difficult or undesirable (e.g., for security monitoring or fault detection in smart factories, infrastructure, or environments). Another ZP-IoT use case includes smart logistics / warehousing, where, for example, extremely low-cost, small-size, maintenance-free, durable, and long-life communication devices are used to perform automated asset management in factories. Yet another ZP-IoT use case includes smart home networks for home item management, wearables, and environmental monitoring (e.g., wearables for medical monitoring where battery replacement is not required).

[0116] As described above, ZP-IoT devices can harvest energy from one or more wireless energy sources, such as RF signals, heat, solar energy, etc. In some cases, when using RF signals to harvest energy, a first device (e.g., BS 102 depicted and described relative to Figures 1 and 3, or the decomposed BS depicted and described relative to Figure 2; UE 104 depicted and described relative to Figures 1 and 3; or any other device described herein capable of transmitting wireless signals) can send an energy signal to a second device (e.g., a ZP-IoT device, such as UE 104, RFID tag 550 depicted and described relative to Figure 5, etc.)). The second device can then harvest energy from the energy signal (e.g., using energy harvesting circuitry 555 depicted and described relative to Figure 5) and use the harvested energy to power one or more other components of the second device. In some cases, a portion of the harvested energy can be used to charge the second device's local energy storage device for later use (i.e., the harvested energy can be stored in a local power storage component). After accumulating a sufficient amount of energy, the second device can begin to reflect the energy signal radiated onto the second device; this is referred to as backscattering signal or backscattering communication. When the energy signal is reflected, the second device can modulate a specific switching pattern corresponding to a set of transmitted bits onto the energy signal. The first or third device (e.g., a reader device) can detect and demodulate the reflected pattern to obtain the set of transmitted bits.

[0117] In some cases, the RF signals used for energy harvesting in ZP-IoT communication can be encoded using an encoding scheme. In some cases, the encoding scheme may include Manchester encoding, Pulse Interval Encoding (PIE), or another encoding scheme for RFID-based communication.

[0118] In some contexts, backscatter communication refers to a mechanism that allows wireless devices (often called RFID tags) to communicate without active RF components. In a typical scenario, the RFID tag gains (harvests) energy from RF transmissions from the reader and is also able to modulate the signal and reflect it back to the reader (hence the term backscatter). Signal reflection is caused by a design mismatch between the antenna and the load impedance at the RFID tag. In some cases, the load impedance can be changed to modulate the reflected signal with information bits, which the reader can then recover by demodulating the reflected signal.

[0119] Overview of Environmental Internet of Things (IoT) Devices

[0120] Environmental IoT devices (or tags) are smaller and cheaper devices compared to previous generations of IoT devices, such as narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) and redcap devices. Environmental IoT devices can be powered by radio waves. Due to their size and ability to operate with little or no power, environmental IoT devices can be widely applicable in tracking, monitoring, and managing a variety of devices and processes, with both consumer and industrial applications.

[0121] Figure 6 illustrates an example system 600 (e.g., an environmental IoT system) that utilizes network entities (e.g., gNodeBs (gNBs)) to communicate with environmental IoT devices. Environmental IoT devices can be used to monitor various devices and processes. For example, environmental IoT devices can be used to report sensor measurements, video signals / images, light readings, and control devices (e.g., as actuators).

[0122] Typical networks may not effectively support the most common type of sensor implemented as a passive IoT device: radio frequency identification (RFID). Such devices have broad applications in future use cases such as asset management, logistics, warehousing, and manufacturing. Some systems may be needed to manage environmental IoT devices.

[0123] As illustrated in Figure 6, the gNB may be able to read information stored on one or more environmental IoT devices and / or write information to those devices. The gNB may supply power to the one or more environmental IoT devices (e.g., via a continuous wave (CW) signal), and the information-carrying signal may be reflected back (e.g., backscattered) from the one or more environmental IoT devices to the gNB. The gNB may read the reflected signal (e.g., the backscattered signal) from the one or more environmental IoT devices to decode the information transmitted by those devices.

[0124] These environmental IoT devices can support various types of services. For example, environmental IoT devices can support device-initiated (DO) services, including device-initiated autonomy (DO-DOA) and device-triggered termination (DO-DTT) services, which can be reported periodically.

[0125] Environmental IoT systems are associated with different topologies, such as a first topology, a second topology, a third topology with downlink assistance, and a third topology with uplink assistance. In all these topologies, environmental IoT devices can be supplied with carriers from other nodes inside or outside the topology. One or more links in each topology can be bidirectional or unidirectional.

[0126] Figure 7 illustrates a first topology (Topology 1) of an illustrative environmental IoT system. In Topology 1, environmental IoT devices communicate directly and bidirectionally with a gNB. Communication between the gNB and the environmental IoT devices includes ambient IoT data and / or signaling. This topology allows for the possibility that the gNB sending data to the environmental IoT devices may differ from the gNB receiving data from the environmental IoT devices.

[0127] Figure 8 illustrates a second topology (Topology 2) of an illustrative environmental IoT system. In Topology 2, the environmental IoT device communicates bidirectionally with an intermediate node located between the environmental IoT device and the gNB. In this topology, the intermediate node can be a user equipment (UE) capable of performing environmental IoT operations, a relay device, a repeater device, an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) device, etc. The intermediate node transmits information between the gNB and the environmental IoT device. In some cases, the environmental IoT device can measure the downlink signal strength from the gNB (e.g., according to Topology 1) and from the intermediate node (e.g., according to Topology 2).

[0128] Figure 9 illustrates a third topology (topology 3-1) of an environmental IoT system with downlink assistance. As depicted, the environmental IoT device sends data and / or signaling to the gNB and receives data and / or signaling from an auxiliary node (e.g., an auxiliary node for downlink operation). The auxiliary node can be a relay device, IAB device, UE, or repeater device capable of operating as an environmental IoT device.

[0129] Figure 10 illustrates a third topology (topology 3-2) of an environmental IoT system with uplink assistance. As depicted, the environmental IoT device receives data and / or signaling from the gNB and sends data and / or signaling to the auxiliary node (e.g., an auxiliary node for uplink operation).

[0130] Overview of the Random Access Channel (RACH) procedure

[0131] RACH stands for Random Access Channel. It is an important component of wireless communication systems, including 5G New Radio (NR). The RACH process plays a role in establishing the initial connection (initial access) between the User Equipment (UE) and the gNodeB (gNB).

[0132] A UE can initiate a RACH procedure after receiving a downlink synchronization signal block (SSB) signal from the gNB. In some cases, there may be a one-to-one correspondence between a specific SSB and a RACH timing or opportunity (RO) (e.g., one that can be used by a UE for RACH transmission). Therefore, all UEs that may receive the same SSB from the gNB can initiate the RACH procedure in the same RO (e.g., time slot and / or frequency resource).

[0133] In some cases, the UE can utilize open-loop power control such that if more than one UE selects the same RO, the received power at the gNB will be approximately the same. In open-loop power control, there is neither feedback from the UE to the gNB nor feedback from the gNB to the UE. For example, in a radio system, there may be a dedicated pilot channel for channel estimation. It is transmitted by the gNB to all subscribers. For example, the UE can receive the pilot channel from the gNB and estimate its power strength (or signal strength). Based on this estimate, the UE adjusts its transmit power.

[0134] In an environmental Internet of Things (IoT) system (e.g., relative to system 600 depicted and described in Figure 6), uplink operation may be based on backscattering. For example, an environmental IoT device (or tag) backscatters a continuous wave (CW) received from a gNB with a frequency shift and modulates the CW with its information sequence.

[0135] In an environmental IoT system, multiple environmental IoT devices may exist within a cell. In such cases, more than one environmental IoT device may select the same RO for physical RACH (PRACH) transmission (e.g., because all these environmental IoT devices may receive the same SSB, and only one RO (selectable) exists corresponding to one SSB received from the gNB). In some cases, to achieve satisfactory performance for all environmental IoT devices that have selected the same RO, it is desirable that the received power from all environmental IoT devices be approximately the same.

[0136] In NR (Network Node.js), the proximity problem is one of the challenges of detecting or filtering weaker signals within a stronger signal. For example, a UE close to the gNB and another UE far from the gNB might both attempt to interact with the gNB simultaneously; this is known as the proximity problem. The signal from the closer UE might be significantly stronger than the signal from the farther UE, potentially leading to signal loss or significant degradation from the farther UE. This can result in reduced network bandwidth and coverage.

[0137] In NR, the near-far problem is mitigated through open-loop power control. As mentioned above, based on the received signal strength of downlink signals from the gNB (such as the Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) / System Information Block (SIB)), the UE calculates the transmit power required for uplink PRACH transmission (e.g., assuming channel reciprocity, which typically holds true for Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems). TDD uses the same frequency for each duplex direction, and its frames include different time periods and slots for uplink or downlink communication.

[0138] In environmental IoT systems, environmental IoT devices may lack power control capabilities. For example, an environmental IoT device might only backscatter the CW received from the gNB without a power amplifier (PA) (e.g., for adjusting the transmit power of any signal / transmission). Therefore, when multiple environmental IoT devices may use the same RO for PRACH transmission, the received power of PRACH transmissions from different environmental IoT devices can vary significantly. In such cases, environmental IoT devices that may be at the cell edge might fail during the RACH process (and retransmission), resulting in excessive latency and higher energy consumption in order to successfully complete the RACH process.

[0139] Since environmental IoT devices may not have power control capabilities, one solution to address the near-far problem might be to provide more than one RO (e.g., a pool of ROs with multiple ROs) corresponding to one SSB. As illustrated in Figure 1100 of Figure 11, different ROs can be characterized by different frequency shifts and / or different times / slots. For example, RO1 is associated with frequency shift 1 and time slot i, RO2 with frequency shift 2 and time slot i, and so on. By providing more than one RO for the SSB, similar received signal power can be achieved at the reader (e.g., which is receiving transmissions from one or more environmental IoT devices) when multiple environmental IoT devices may select the same RO to transmit PRACH.

[0140] In some cases, environmental IoT devices can select an RO from the RO pool based on the signal strength of the received downlink signal. For example, using a downlink signal, the gNB can first configure the RO pool corresponding to the SSB. The environmental IoT device can estimate the signal strength of the received downlink signal. Then, the environmental IoT device can select an RO from the RO pool based on the signal strength of the received downlink signal.

[0141] The aforementioned solutions to the near-far problem may be applicable to IoT systems in environments with a single-site topology (e.g., as depicted in Figures 7 and 8, where the uplink and downlink channels are reciprocal), but not to IoT systems in environments with a third topology (e.g., as depicted in Figures 9 and 10). Therefore, there is a need for techniques to address the near-far problem in IoT systems with a third topology (e.g., by estimating the received signal strength at the gNB (e.g., in topology 3-1) or auxiliary node (e.g., in topology 3-2), given that the channel is a combination of two separate channels).

[0142] Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) RACH Opportunity (RO) Selection in IoT Systems with Auxiliary Nodes Related aspects

[0143] Various aspects of this disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processing systems, and computer-readable media for managing the selection of one or more Random Access Channel (RACH) timings (RO) in an Internet of Things (IoT) system with auxiliary nodes (e.g., for downlink or uplink operation).

[0144] In an environmental IoT system with an auxiliary node for downlink operation, the environmental IoT device can measure the signal strength of the downlink signal transmitted from the gNodeB (gNB). Based on the signal strength measurement, the environmental IoT device can estimate the path loss between the gNB and the environmental IoT device. Based on the estimated path loss and other measurements (such as the received power of the signal from the auxiliary node), the environmental IoT device can select an RO from a pool of ROs (e.g., having multiple ROs) such that the received power of the signal from the environmental IoT device at the gNB is constrained within a limited range to mitigate the aforementioned near-far problem.

[0145] In an environmental IoT system with an auxiliary node for uplink operation, the environmental IoT device can measure the signal strength of a probe signal transmitted from the auxiliary node. Based on the signal strength measurement, the environmental IoT device can estimate the path loss between the auxiliary node and the environmental IoT device. Based on the estimated path loss and other measurements (e.g., the received power of the signal from the gNB), the environmental IoT device can select a path loss ratio (RO) such that the received power of the signal from the environmental IoT device at the auxiliary node is constrained to a limited range, thereby mitigating the aforementioned near-far problem.

[0146] Specific aspects of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented to achieve one or more of the following potential advantages. In some examples, the described techniques can address the near-far problem, thereby reducing any transmission delay and energy consumption. The techniques proposed herein for selecting ROs in an IoT system for managing environments can be understood with reference to Figures 12 through 15.

[0147] Figure 12 depicts a first call flowchart 1200, illustrating example communication between different devices and nodes used to manage the selection of ROs in an environmental IoT system. The gNB depicted in Figure 12 may be an example of a BS 102 depicted and described relative to Figures 1 and 3, or a decomposed BS depicted and described relative to Figure 2. The environmental IoT device depicted in Figure 12 may be an example of a UE 104 depicted and described relative to Figures 1 and 3. The auxiliary node depicted in Figure 12 may be an example of a BS 102 depicted and described relative to Figures 1 and 3, or a decomposed BS depicted and described relative to Figure 2. In some cases, the auxiliary node depicted in Figure 12 may be an example of a UE 104 depicted and described relative to Figures 1 and 3.

[0148] As indicated at 1210, the gNB sends a System Information Block (SIB) to the environmental IoT device. In some cases, the SIB may also be sent from the auxiliary node to the environmental IoT device. The SIB indicates one or more measurement windows for the environmental IoT device to measure the signal strength of one or more downlink signals from the gNB.

[0149] In some respects, the gNB can send multiple SIBs to an environmental IoT device, which can indicate multiple measurement windows for the environmental IoT device to measure the signal strength of multiple downlink signals from the gNB. In some cases, where multiple SIBs may indicate more than one measurement window, it can allow averaging of the signal strength measurements of one or more downlink signals performed during the multiple measurement windows.

[0150] In some respects, the number of measurement windows for measuring several downlink signals is determined based on inputs from the gNB and auxiliary nodes. For example, the gNB and auxiliary nodes may negotiate with each other to determine the number of measurement windows for measuring the signal strength of one or more downlink signals.

[0151] In some respects, the number of downlink signals is determined based on inputs from the gNB and auxiliary nodes. For example, the gNB and auxiliary nodes may negotiate with each other to determine the number of downlink signals that can be transmitted by the gNB to the environmental IoT devices.

[0152] As indicated at 1220, the gNB sends the one or more downlink signals to the environmental IoT device. In one example, the one or more downlink signals may include a primary synchronization signal (PSS). In another example, the one or more downlink signals may include a secondary synchronization signal (SSS). In yet another example, the one or more downlink signals may include a synchronization signal block (SSB). In yet another example, the one or more downlink signals may include a reference signal (RS).

[0153] As indicated at 1230, the environmental IoT device measures the signal strength of the one or more downlink signals received from the gNB during the one or more measurement windows (e.g., as indicated by the SIB).

[0154] In some respects, environmental IoT devices can measure the signal strength of one or more downlink signals without decoding them.

[0155] In some respects, environmental IoT devices can determine the path loss between the gNB and the environmental IoT device based on the measured signal strength of one or more downlink signals. For example, the environmental IoT device can measure some downlink signals received directly from the gNB and infer the path loss from the gNB to the environmental IoT device.

[0156] In some respects, environmental IoT devices can determine (or infer) the path loss between the gNB and the environmental IoT device based on the measured signal strength of one or more downlink signals and the transmit power associated with the gNB. In some cases, the environmental IoT device can obtain information associated with the transmit power of the gNB from the gNB.

[0157] As indicated at 1240, the auxiliary node sends continuous waves (CW) to the environmental IoT devices. CW is an electromagnetic wave with a constant amplitude and frequency, such as a sine wave, which is considered to last indefinitely.

[0158] As indicated at 1250, the environmental IoT device measures the received power of the CW (or associated power). For example, during a Random Access Channel (RACH) process, the environmental IoT device receives the CW from the auxiliary node and measures the received power of the CW.

[0159] As indicated at 1260, the environmental IoT device estimates the received signal strength at the gNB based on path loss and the received power of the CW.

[0160] As indicated at 1270, the environmental IoT device selects or picks at least one RACH timing (RO) (e.g., from multiple ROs) based on the estimated received signal strength at the gNB. In one example, the environmental IoT device may select a first RO based on a first value of the estimated received signal strength at the gNB. In another example, the environmental IoT device may select a second RO based on a second value of the estimated received signal strength at the gNB. The environmental IoT device may transmit one or more RACHs in the selected ROs.

[0161] Figure 13 depicts a second call flowchart 1300, illustrating example communication between different devices and nodes used to manage the selection of ROs in an environmental IoT system. The gNB depicted in Figure 13 may be an example of a BS 102 depicted and described relative to Figures 1 and 3, or a decomposed BS depicted and described relative to Figure 2. The environmental IoT device depicted in Figure 13 may be an example of a UE 104 depicted and described relative to Figures 1 and 3. The auxiliary node depicted in Figure 13 may be an example of a BS 102 depicted and described relative to Figures 1 and 3, or a decomposed BS depicted and described relative to Figure 2. In some cases, the auxiliary node depicted in Figure 13 may be an example of a UE 104 depicted and described relative to Figures 1 and 3.

[0162] As indicated at 1310, the gNB sends an SIB to the environmental IoT device. This SIB indicates one or more measurement windows for the environmental IoT device to measure the signal strength of one or more probe signals from the auxiliary node.

[0163] In some respects, the gNB can send multiple SIBs to an environmental IoT device, which can indicate multiple measurement windows for the environmental IoT device to measure the signal strength of multiple probe signals from auxiliary nodes. In some cases, where multiple SIBs may indicate more than one measurement window, it can allow averaging of the signal strength measurements of one or more probe signals performed during multiple measurement windows.

[0164] In some respects, the number of measurement windows for measuring several probe signals is determined based on inputs from the gNB and auxiliary nodes. For example, the gNB and auxiliary nodes may negotiate with each other to determine the number of measurement windows for the auxiliary nodes to measure the signal strength of one or more probe signals.

[0165] In some respects, the number of probe signals is determined based on inputs from the gNB and auxiliary nodes. For example, the gNB and auxiliary nodes can negotiate with each other to determine the number of probe signals that can be transmitted by the auxiliary node to environmental IoT devices.

[0166] As indicated at 1320, the auxiliary node sends one or more detection signals to the environmental IoT device. For example, the one or more detection signals may include a detection reference signal (SRS).

[0167] As indicated at 1330, the environmental IoT device measures the signal strength of the one or more probe signals received from the auxiliary node during the one or more measurement windows (e.g., as indicated by gNB).

[0168] In some respects, environmental IoT devices can measure the signal strength of one or more probe signals received from auxiliary nodes without decoding the one or more probe signals.

[0169] In some respects, environmental IoT devices can determine the path loss between an auxiliary node and the environmental IoT device based on the signal strength of one or more probe signals measured. For example, the environmental IoT device can measure some probe signals received directly from the auxiliary node and infer the path loss between the auxiliary node and the environmental IoT device. In some cases, the gNB can instruct the environmental IoT device how / when to measure the probe signals.

[0170] As indicated at 1340, the gNB sends a CW to the environmental IoT device.

[0171] As indicated at 1350, the environmental IoT device measures the received power of the CW (or associated power). For example, during a RACH process, the environmental IoT device receives the CW from the gNB and measures the received power of the CW.

[0172] As indicated at 1360, the ambient IoT device estimates the received signal strength at the auxiliary node based on the following: path loss between the auxiliary node and the ambient IoT device, the received power of the CW, and / or the path loss from the gNB to the ambient IoT device. In some cases, the ambient IoT device can estimate the path loss from the gNB to the ambient IoT device by measuring some downlink signals from the gNB.

[0173] As indicated at 1370, the environmental IoT device selects at least one RO (e.g., from multiple ROs) based on the estimated received signal strength at the auxiliary node. In one example, the environmental IoT device may select a first RO based on a first value of the estimated received signal strength at the auxiliary node. In another example, the environmental IoT device may select a second RO based on a second value of the estimated received signal strength at the auxiliary node. The environmental IoT device may transmit one or more RACHs in the selected RO.

[0174] Example method for wireless communication at the first wireless node

[0175] Figure 14 illustrates an example of a method 1400 for wireless communication at a first wireless node (such as UE 104 in Figures 1 and 3).

[0176] Method 1400 begins at step 1410, wherein the first wireless node measures one or more signals received from the second wireless node. In some cases, the operation of this step involves, or can be performed by, the circuitry and / or code for measurement described with reference to FIG. 15.

[0177] Method 1400 then proceeds to step 1420, where the first wireless node measures the continuous wave (CW) received from the third wireless node. In some cases, the operation of this step involves, or can be performed by, the circuitry and / or code for measurement described with reference to FIG15.

[0178] Method 1400 then proceeds to step 1430, where the first wireless node selects a Random Access Channel (RACH) timing (RO) based on measurements associated with the one or more signals and CW. In some cases, this step involves, or may be performed by, the circuitry and / or code for selection described with reference to FIG15.

[0179] Method 1400 then proceeds to step 1440, where the first wireless node transmits RACH in the selected RO. In some cases, the operation of this step involves, or can be performed by, the circuitry and / or code for transmission described with reference to FIG15.

[0180] In some aspects, method 1400 further includes a first wireless node receiving at least one system information block (SIB) indicating one or more measurement windows for measuring the signal strength of one or more signals from a second wireless node.

[0181] In some respects, at least one of the following situations exists: the number of the one or more measurement windows or the number of the one or more signals is based on inputs from the second wireless node and the third wireless node.

[0182] In some aspects, method 1400 further includes: a first wireless node receiving one or more signals from a second wireless node; measuring the signal strength of the one or more signals during the one or more measurement windows; and determining a path loss from the second wireless node to the first wireless node based on the signal strength of the one or more signals and the transmit power of the second wireless node.

[0183] In some respects, method 1400 also includes: the first wireless node receiving CW from the third wireless node and measuring the received power of the CW.

[0184] In some respects, method 1400 also includes the first wireless node estimating the received signal strength at the second wireless node based on path loss and the received power of CW.

[0185] In some respects, method 1400 also includes the first wireless node selecting the RO based on the estimated received signal strength at the second wireless node.

[0186] In some respects, the first wireless node includes an environmental Internet of Things (IoT) tag; the second wireless node includes a network entity (e.g., a gNodeB (gNB)); the third wireless node includes a UE, a relay device, a repeater device, or an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) device; and the one or more signals include at least one of the following: a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), or a reference signal (RS).

[0187] In some respects, the first wireless node includes an environmental IoT tag; the second wireless node includes a UE, a relay device, a repeater device, or an IAB device; the third wireless node includes a network entity; and the one or more signals include one or more detection reference signals.

[0188] In one aspect, method 1400 or any aspect thereof may be performed by a first wireless node (such as communication device 1500 of FIG. 15), the first wireless node including various components capable of operating, configured, or adapted to perform method 1400. Communication device 1500 is described in more detail below.

[0189] It should be noted that Figure 14 is only one example of a method, and other methods conforming to this disclosure, including fewer, additional, or alternative steps, are possible.

[0190] Example communication device

[0191] Figure 15 illustrates various aspects of the example communication device 1500. In some aspects, the communication device 1500 is a first wireless node, such as the UE 104 described above with respect to Figures 1 and 3.

[0192] Communication device 1500 includes a processing system 1505 coupled to a transceiver 1545 (e.g., a transmitter and / or receiver). Transceiver 1545 is configured to transmit and receive signals for communication device 1500 via antenna 1550, such as the various signals described herein. Processing system 1505 may be configured to perform processing functions of communication device 1500, including processing signals received by communication device 1500 and / or to be transmitted by the communication device.

[0193] Processing system 1505 includes one or more processors 1510. In various aspects, the one or more processors 1510 may represent one or more of a receive processor 358, a transmit processor 364, a TX MIMO processor 366, and / or a controller / processor 380, as described with respect to FIG3. The one or more processors 1510 are coupled to a computer-readable medium / memory 1525 via a bus 1540. In some aspects, the computer-readable medium / memory 1525 is configured to store instructions (e.g., computer-executable code) that, when executed by the one or more processors 1510, cause the one or more processors 1510 to perform the method 1400 described with respect to FIG14 and / or any aspects thereof. It should be noted that references to processors performing the functions of communication device 1500 may include one or more processors 1510 performing such functions of communication device 1500.

[0194] In the depicted example, computer-readable medium / memory 1525 stores codes (e.g., executable instructions), such as code 1530 for measurement, code 1535 for selection, and code 1540 for transmission. Processing the code 1530 for measurement, the code 1535 for selection, and the code 1540 for transmission can cause the communication device 1500 to perform any aspect of the method 1400 described in FIG. 14 and / or related to it.

[0195] One or more processors 1510 include circuitry configured to implement (e.g., execute) code stored in a computer-readable medium / memory 1525, including circuitry such as circuitry 1515 for measurement, circuitry 1520 for selection, and circuitry 1525 for transmission. Processing using the circuitry 1515 for measurement, the circuitry 1520 for selection, and the circuitry 1525 for transmission enables the communication device 1500 to perform any aspect of the method 1400 described in FIG. 14 and / or related to it.

[0196] Various components of the communication device 1500 may provide parts for performing the method 1400 described with respect to and / or any aspect thereof as shown in FIG. 14. For example, parts for transmitting, conveying or outputting for transmission may include the transceiver 354 and / or antenna 352 of the UE 104 illustrated in FIG. 3, and / or the code 1540 for transmission, the circuitry 1525 for transmission, the transceiver 1545 and the antenna 1550 of the communication device 1500 in FIG. 15.

[0197] Components used for receiving or acquiring may include transceiver 354 and / or antenna 352 of UE 104 illustrated in FIG. 3 and / or transceiver 1545 and antenna 1550 of communication device 1500 in FIG. 15.

[0198] Components used for measurement may include the processor 380, transceiver 354 and / or antenna 352 of the UE 104 illustrated in FIG. 3, and / or the measurement code 1530, measurement circuitry 1515, transceiver 1545 and antenna 1550 of the communication device 1500 in FIG. 15.

[0199] The components for selection may include the processor 380, transceiver 354 and / or antenna 352 of the UE 104 illustrated in FIG. 3, and / or the selection code 1535, selection circuitry 1520, transceiver 1545 and antenna 1550 of the communication device 1500 in FIG. 15.

[0200] In some cases, a device may not actually transmit, for example, signals and / or data, but may have an interface (an output component) for outputting signals and / or data for transmission. For example, a processor may output signals and / or data to a radio frequency (RF) front end for transmission via a bus interface. In various aspects, the RF front end may include a variety of components, including transmit and receive processors, transmit and receive MIMO processors, modulators, demodulators, etc., as depicted in the example in Figure 3.

[0201] In some cases, the device may not actually receive signals and / or data, but may have an interface (the component for receiving) for acquiring signals and / or data received from another device. For example, a processor may acquire (or receive) signals and / or data from the RF front end via a bus interface for reception. In various aspects, the RF front end may include a variety of components, including transmit and receive processors, transmit and receive MIMO processors, modulators, demodulators, etc., as depicted in the example in Figure 3. It is worth noting that Figure 15 is an example, and many other examples and configurations of the communication device 1500 are possible.

[0202] Example Terms

[0203] Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0204] Clause 1: A method for wireless communication at a first wireless node, the method comprising: measuring one or more signals received from a second wireless node; measuring a continuous wave (CW) received from a third wireless node; selecting a random access channel (RACH) timing (RO) based on measurements associated with the one or more signals and the CW; and transmitting RACH transmission in the selected RO.

[0205] Clause 2: The method according to Clause 1 further includes: receiving at least one System Information Block (SIB), the at least one System Information Block (SIB) indicating one or more measurement windows for measuring the signal strength of the one or more signals from the second wireless node.

[0206] Clause 3: The method described in Clause 2, wherein at least one of the following conditions exists: the number of the one or more measurement windows or the number of the one or more signals is based on inputs from the second wireless node and the third wireless node.

[0207] Clause 4: The method according to Clause 2 further includes: receiving the one or more signals from the second wireless node; measuring the signal strength of the one or more signals during the one or more measurement windows; and determining the path loss from the second wireless node to the first wireless node based on the signal strength of the one or more signals and the transmit power of the second wireless node.

[0208] Clause 5: The method described in Clause 4 further includes: receiving the CW from the third wireless node; and measuring the received power of the CW.

[0209] Clause 6: The method according to Clause 5 further includes: estimating the received signal strength at the second wireless node based on the path loss and the received power of the CW.

[0210] Clause 7: The method according to Clause 6, wherein the selection includes selecting the RO based on the estimated received signal strength at the second wireless node.

[0211] Clause 8: The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 7, wherein: the first wireless node includes an environmental Internet of Things (IoT) tag; the second wireless node includes a network entity; the third wireless node includes a user equipment (UE), a relay device, a repeater device, or an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) device; and the one or more signals include at least one of the following: a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), or a reference signal (RS).

[0212] Clause 9: The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 7, wherein: the first wireless node includes an environmental Internet of Things (IoT) tag; the second wireless node includes a user equipment (UE), a relay device, a repeater device, or an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) device; the third wireless node includes a network entity; and the one or more signals include one or more detection reference signals.

[0213] Clause 10: An apparatus comprising: a memory including executable instructions; and one or more processors configured individually or in any combination to execute the executable instructions and cause the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 9.

[0214] Clause 11: An apparatus comprising components for performing the method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 9.

[0215] Clause 12: A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising: executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of the device, cause the device to perform the method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 9.

[0216] Clause 13: A computer program product embodied on a computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium including code for performing the method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 9.

[0217] Additional Notes

[0218] The foregoing description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. The examples discussed herein do not limit the scope, applicability, or aspects set forth in the claims. Various modifications to these aspects will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. For example, the function and arrangement of the elements discussed may be changed without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Various processes or components may be omitted, substituted, or added as appropriate in the various examples. For example, the described methods may be performed in a different order than described, and various actions may be added, omitted, or combined. Furthermore, features described with respect to some examples may be combined in some other examples. For example, any number of aspects set forth herein may be used to implement an apparatus or practice. Additionally, the scope of this disclosure is intended to cover such apparatuses or methods practiced using other structures, functionalities, or structures and functionalities that complement or replace the various aspects of this disclosure set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure herein may be embodied by one or more elements of the claims.

[0219] The various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in this disclosure can be implemented or executed using a general-purpose processor, digital signal processor (DSP), ASIC, field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. While the general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, in alternative embodiments, the processor may be any commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors working in conjunction with a DSP core, a system-on-a-chip (SoC), or any other such configuration.

[0220] As used herein, "processor," "at least one processor," or "one or more processors" generally refers to a single processor configured to perform one or more operations, or multiple processors configured to collectively perform one or more operations. In the case of multiple processors, the execution of one or more operations may be divided among different processors, but one processor may perform multiple operations, and multiple processors may collectively perform a single operation. Similarly, "memory," "at least one memory," or "one or more memory" generally refers to a single memory configured to store data and / or instructions, or multiple memories configured to collectively store data and / or instructions.

[0221] As used in this article, the phrase “at least one of” in a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including a single member. As an example, “at least one of A, b, or c” is intended to cover: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, and abc, as well as any combination with multiple identical elements (e.g., aa, aaa, aab, aac, abb, acc, bb, bbb, bbb, bbc, cc, and ccc, or any other ordering of a, b, and c).

[0222] As used herein, the term "determine" encompasses a wide variety of actions. For example, "determine" can include calculation, operation, processing, deduction, investigation, lookup (e.g., searching in a table, database, or other data structure), assertion, etc. Additionally, "determine" can include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory), etc. Furthermore, "determine" can include parsing, selecting, picking, building, etc.

[0223] The methods disclosed herein include one or more actions for implementing the methods. These method actions may be interchanged without departing from the scope of the claims. In other words, unless a specified order of actions is given, the order and / or use of a particular action may be modified without departing from the scope of the claims. Furthermore, the various operations of the methods described above can be performed by any suitable component capable of performing the corresponding function. This component may include various hardware and / or software components and / or modules, including but not limited to circuits, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or processors.

[0224] The following claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but should be given the full scope consistent with the language of the claims. Within the claims, unless specifically stated otherwise, reference to the singular form of an element is not intended to mean “one and only one,” but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. No element of any claim shall be interpreted in accordance with 35 USC §112(f) unless that element is explicitly stated using the phrase “for a component of.” All structural and functional equivalents of the elements throughout the various aspects described herein that are known to a person of ordinary skill in the art, or will later be known, are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be covered by the claims. Furthermore, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be offered to the public, whether or not such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims.

Claims

1. An apparatus for performing wireless communication at a first wireless node, the apparatus comprising: The memory includes instructions; and one or more processors, individually or in any combination, configured to execute the instructions and cause the device to: measure one or more signals received from a second wireless node; measure a continuous wave (CW) received from a third wireless node; select a random access channel (RACH) timing (RO) based on measurements associated with the one or more signals and the CW; and transmit RACH transmission in the selected RO.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are individually or in any combination configured to execute the instructions and cause the apparatus to receive at least one System Information Block (SIB), the at least one System Information Block (SIB) indicating one or more measurement windows for measuring the signal strength of the one or more signals from the second wireless node.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein at least one of the following conditions exists: the number of the one or more measurement windows or the number of the one or more signals is based on inputs from the second wireless node and the third wireless node.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the one or more processors are individually or in any combination configured to execute the instructions and cause the apparatus to: receive the one or more signals from the second wireless node; The signal strength of the one or more signals is measured during the one or more measurement windows; And determine the path loss from the second wireless node to the first wireless node based on the signal strength of the one or more signals and the transmission power of the second wireless node.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the one or more processors are individually or in any combination configured to execute the instructions and cause the apparatus to: receive the CW from the third wireless node; and measure the received power of the CW.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the one or more processors are individually or in any combination configured to execute the instructions and cause the apparatus to: estimate the received signal strength at the second wireless node based on the path loss and the received power of the CW.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the one or more processors are individually or in any combination configured to execute the instructions and cause the apparatus to: select the RO based on the estimated received signal strength at the second wireless node.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The first wireless node includes an environmental Internet of Things (IoT) tag; the second wireless node includes a network entity; the third wireless node includes a user equipment (UE), a relay device, a repeater device, or an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) device; and the one or more signals include at least one of the following: a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), or a reference signal (RS).

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: The first wireless node includes an environmental Internet of Things (IoT) tag; the second wireless node includes a user equipment (UE), a relay device, a repeater device, or an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) device; the third wireless node includes a network entity; and the one or more signals include one or more detection reference signals.

10. A method for performing wireless communication at a first wireless node, the method comprising: Measure one or more signals received from the second wireless node; Measure the continuous wave (CW) received from the third wireless node. The random access channel (RACH) timing (RO) is selected based on measurements associated with the one or more signals and the CW; and RACH transmission is performed in the selected RO.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: Receive at least one System Information Block (SIB), the at least one System Information Block (SIB) indicating one or more measurement windows for measuring the signal strength of the one or more signals from the second wireless node.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein at least one of the following conditions exists: the number of the one or more measurement windows or the number of the one or more signals is based on inputs from the second wireless node and the third wireless node.

13. The method according to claim 11, further comprising: Receive one or more signals from the second wireless node; The signal strength of the one or more signals is measured during the one or more measurement windows; And determine the path loss from the second wireless node to the first wireless node based on the signal strength of the one or more signals and the transmission power of the second wireless node.

14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising: Receive the CW from the third wireless node; And measure the received power of the CW.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising: The received signal strength at the second wireless node is estimated based on the path loss and the received power of the CW.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the selection includes selecting the RO based on the estimated received signal strength at the second wireless node.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein: The first wireless node includes an environmental Internet of Things (IoT) tag; the second wireless node includes a network entity; the third wireless node includes a user equipment (UE), a relay device, a repeater device, or an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) device; and the one or more signals include at least one of the following: a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), or a reference signal (RS).

18. The method of claim 10, wherein: The first wireless node includes an environmental Internet of Things (IoT) tag; the second wireless node includes a user equipment (UE), a relay device, a repeater device, or an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) device; the third wireless node includes a network entity; and the one or more signals include one or more detection reference signals.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions causing the first wireless node to perform wireless communication when executed by one or more processors of the first wireless node, the method comprising: Measure one or more signals received from the second wireless node; Measure the continuous wave (CW) received from the third wireless node. The random access channel (RACH) timing (RO) is selected based on measurements associated with the one or more signals and the CW; and RACH transmission is performed in the selected RO.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 19, wherein: The first wireless node includes an environmental Internet of Things (IoT) tag; the second wireless node includes a network entity; the third wireless node includes a user equipment (UE), a relay device, a repeater device, or an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) device; and the one or more signals include at least one of the following: a primary synchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), or a reference signal (RS).

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